Dawn's seahorse garden!

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Chasmodes

Good luck with the tiny seahorse. Tell her that she must eat her meat, or she can't have any pudding!

LOL, I will do that but what if she isn't a Pink Floyd fan?

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Chasmodes

Good luck with the tiny seahorse. Tell her that she must eat her meat, or she can't have any pudding!

LOL, I will do that but what if she isn't a Pink Floyd fan?
Or worse maybe she is a fan and thinks I am in cahoots with the teachers!

[vlangel]

Well I returned from visiting kids and grandkids and it was a great weekend. We had so much to do before leaving at 6:30 am Friday that I began to think of all the aquarium issue that I might come home to.

As it turned out everything was pretty good. The blenny tank and the seahorse tank were fine. Delilah was in the 10 gallon as she was not looking good last Wed and Thurs. I was not going ask my sister to treat her so I figured she would either make it or not. She is looking better and also eating better so I guess she decided to make it.

Also the dwarf seahorse was at a neighbors. I sent newly made salt water and enriched bbs to feed. I told her not to worry if it died. Actually the little gal looks fine so she must be eating her meat!

I have the hatcheries set back up and and all the tanks got water changes so now I can rest!

[Michael Hoaster]

Glad to hear your Thanksgiving weekend went well. Sounds like a well oiled machine!

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Glad to hear your Thanksgiving weekend went well. Sounds like a well oiled machine!

Well, if it were a well oiled machine, I would not have imagined near as many disasters that possibly were awaiting me, ha ha! Luckily none of them came to fruition.

[Michael Hoaster]

Give yourself some credit! You've kept a hitchhiker seahorse alive! Who else could do that?

It's funny, my tank always seems better off, when I come back from a trip.

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Give yourself some credit! You've kept a hitchhiker seahorse alive! Who else could do that?

It's funny, my tank always seems better off, when I come back from a trip.

Yeah, maybe I am too critical of myself.

I think my 56 gallon will be better if I don't intervene too much. The blessings of a high nutrient tank.

[Chasmodes]

Everything sounds great! You have skills!

[vlangel]

Here is a short video clip of the dwarf seahorse. Dave, my hubby calls her Jr even though she is a girl so that is her name.
https://youtu.be/Tg2XNv9EnwU

[vlangel]

These hatcheries were on my kitchen counter but since it appears that Jr is going to be here with us for awhile I needed to come up with a another location. I have them in the cabinet of the seahorse display, ha ha!



2018-11-29_10-15-56 by Dawn Gilson, on Flickr

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Chasmodes

Everything sounds great! You have skills!

Thanks Kevin! You are very kind.

[vlangel]

I also made changes to both tanks. It started out as just choosing a more desirable hitching coral for the ponies and ended up in changeing the scape of both tanks. I am not sure how that happens but it does, LOL.
2018-11-29_04-59-13 by Dawn Gilson, on Flickr

[vlangel]

2018-11-29_04-59-36 by Dawn Gilson, on Flickr
I did not love the changes I made in the pony tank but I did like what I did in the blenny tank. I decided the rock structure in the seahorse tank was collecting too much detritus with the large plate coral skeleton. I like that structure however and detritus is not as much of an issue in the blenny tank since its a high nutrient system. So I moved it there along with some caulerpa too. The blenny tank has more shelter for the fish, is more lush and overall. I like the new look.

2018-11-29_05-00-03 by Dawn Gilson, on Flickr

The seahorse tank looks pretty lack luster but the ponies like it better. Now they have room to flow surf plus they can hitch to their favorite coral, the corky finger.

[Michael Hoaster]

Great pics! And vid! I like what you're doing with the scape too. Nice work, Dawn!

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Great pics! And vid! I like what you're doing with the scape too. Nice work, Dawn!

Thanks Michael. I worried that the large rock structure from the seahorse tank would compete with the 2 level sand bed plateau but it didn't as much as I thought. I still may try to raise the coral rock I have there up higher to make the 2 elements different heights. I do not like the look of 2 mountains in a tank, LOL. Its only slightly better than the massive rock wall!

[vlangel]

I can only look at something that bugs me about my tanks so long before my hands are inside them doing something about it. I got 2 flat pieces of live rock and put the coral rock structure on top of them, thus making the right side of the tank about 3" taller than the left side. Now I am happy, for now!

2018-12-01_07-30-09 by Dawn Gilson, on Flickr

[Michael Hoaster]

Love it! Cool scape.

I know that feeling, looking in your tank, and knowing what you need to do, to get it just so. That's a big part of the fun of it! Artistic expression.

Good job posting pics!

[Subsea]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Love it! Cool scape.

I know that feeling, looking in your tank, and knowing what you need to do, to get it just so. That's a big part of the fun of it! Artistic expression.

Good job posting pics!

I like that: “artistic expression”. That is a good thing.

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Michael Hoaster

Love it! Cool scape.

I know that feeling, looking in your tank, and knowing what you need to do, to get it just so. That's a big part of the fun of it! Artistic expression.

Good job posting pics!

Thanks Michael, and you're absolutely right...that is a big part of the fun of it. I graduated from the Art Institute of Pgh so artistic expression is very important to me. It is probably what drove me to push the boundaries in this tank when the seahorses were in it. I never really wanted 2 tanks but the way I need to keep seahorses healthy just does not satisfy me artistically. So now I am much more fulfilled and actually this 56 gallon blenny tank is pure fun and very little work.

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Subsea

I like that: “artistic expression”. That is a good thing.

Hi Patrick! I think your new tank has artistic expression too.

[Michael Hoaster]

That's great! Your new tank removes the shackles of seahorse care and allows you to express yourself further.

[Chasmodes]

Thanks for sharing your video and pics. Junior is quite a cool character! I love the artistic expressions/changes that you've made in the blenny tank (both tanks, really). Skills!

Originally Posted by vlangel

I can only look at something that bugs me about my tanks so long before my hands are inside them doing something about it.

I do the same thing in my tank. If a fish or crab moves an object and I don't like the outcome, I fix it the way that I want. I think that I lose more water from the tank dripping from my arms than I do via evaporation!

[vlangel]

Originally Posted by Chasmodes

Thanks for sharing your video and pics. Junior is quite a cool character! I love the artistic expressions/changes that you've made in the blenny tank (both tanks, really). Skills!



I do the same thing in my tank. If a fish or crab moves an object and I don't like the outcome, I fix it the way that I want. I think that I lose more water from the tank dripping from my arms than I do via evaporation!

Thanks Kevin. Yes, Jr. is a cutie for sure. She doesn't do much though. Eats as bbs drift by her hitching post and pass wastes. Thats about it, ha ha! She has turned a pretty yellow with mottled white and black streaks.

Ha ha, I totally get that. I keep a vinyl tablecloth under the tank to put on the floor to prevent drip damage!

[vlangel]

Michael, Following your thread is inspiring me to expand my future dream after seahorses.

I had thought about making a seagrass/macro algae fuge in the basement which would be easy...but it seems a shame to hide it in the basement when I have the room upstairs. So I have been researching ways to connect the 2 tanks. The obvious way is to drill both tanks and use bulkhead and pvc but I hate to do anything permanent. Also I do not know if these tanks can be drilled on the side glass. I have been looking at diy pvc overflows, particularly one with a weir. I could do 2, one as the primary and a 2nd higher one as an emergency in case of a clog. Then using your fake wall as inspiration, put them behind a partial fake wall so they are not intrusive in the tanks. I should probably build a 3rd one for in the fuge to insure the same flow through out both tanks and to the sump. In fact, I guess it would be smart to have a primary and a backup in the fuge too. I would hide them with a partial fake wall as well, thus tying both tanks together aesthetically too.

I hope I am not giving everyone the impression that I am ready to be done with the ponies. It's not that at all. I am investing in grief strategy and support when the time comes.

And with so much building to be done, I can actually start now so that it comes together faster when the time comes.

[Michael Hoaster]

That sound pretty ambitious, Dawn! I'm not sure I understand what you're proposing. Are you saying you would turn one of the two tanks into the sump/fuge for the other? If so, would the top tank be a reef, and bottom one macros?

Or is it two separate displays draining to a common sump?

Either of those ideas sound doable. My concern is that it may make your overall setup more complex.

Could you flesh your idea out a little more clearly, so we all could better understand your idea?